


Again and Again and Again

by Coyoteclaw11



Series: SportsFest 2018 Fills [2]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 13:30:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15558780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coyoteclaw11/pseuds/Coyoteclaw11
Summary: "Haru, you have to tell him," Makoto chided softly."And what?," Haru snapped, suddenly flooded with a rush of desperate anger. "Let him kill himself to save me?"Written for the prompt: Most Likely to Die First





	Again and Again and Again

**Author's Note:**

> I can't seem to stop writing rinharu where one of them dies???? sDFGHJ (I swear I actually _like_ this ship and both of the characters in it.)
> 
> Anyway, brief explanation of the AU: everyone has a number on their wrist signifying the time they have left in their life in hours. These hours can be bought, sold, and transferred at will. I hope everything's clear enough in the fic itself, but if you have any questions, feel free(!) to ask

"A virus...........incurable...........One year...."  
  
Haru stared at his wrist, only half hearing the flat drone of the doctor's voice. Every so often, the numbers ticked down. Another hour lost. And another. And another. With every passing moment, his lifespan grew shorter, and there was nothing he could do to stop it, save wasting hundreds of yen they didn't have to buy more. He closed his eyes, pulled his sleeve down, and just willed the visit to end already.  
  
\---  
  
"Hey! How did it go?"  
  
Haru tightened his grip on the phone, taking a moment to just... breathe. He hadn't realized how tightly he was wound up until Makoto picked up and he felt the ache of letting himself marginally relax. Hearing his best friend's voice didn't quite make everything better, but it helped.  
  
"I have a year."  
  
Haru could hear a sharp breath on the other end of the line. Then, it was Makoto's turn to fall silent. "Oh, Haru..." he said at last, making Haru's eyes burn with tears he refused to shed.  
  
"It's fine," he replied, hating how his voice broke at the end of it.  
  
"Have you told Rin?"  
  
He didn't answer.  
  
"Haru, you have to tell him," Makoto chided softly.  
  
"And what?," Haru snapped, suddenly flooded with a rush of desperate anger. "Let him kill himself to save me?" He let out a sound that was barely a laugh. He  _knew_  Rin, knew exactly what kind of person he was, the kinds of lengths he would go to for the ones he loved. He'd already lost enough of his life that way. Haru couldn't take even more from that, couldn't let Rin feel like he had to give that to him.  
  
"He deserves to know," Makoto said with a sigh once the silence had dragged on for too long.  
  
"I have to go," Haru said and hung up before Makoto could respond. It was childish, he knew, but he couldn't risk letting him change his mind. It was Haru's choice,  _his_  life, and he wasn't going to give Rin the chance to give up a minute of his own.  
  
\---  
  
"Hey, you doing alright?"  
  
Rin had reached over to brush some hair out of Haru's face, and as he did, Haru caught a glance of the numbers on his wrist. They were low... always too, too low. Someone as bright as Rin didn't deserve a life so short.  
  
Rin seemed to notice his gaze and started to pull away with an embarrassed smile as if was something to be ashamed of. Haru caught his wrist and kissed it, then kissed him.  _You deserve more_ , he tried to tell him through thought alone.  _If I could I_ -  
  
Haru froze.  
  
"Haru? What's wrong?" Rin asked, pulling back and regarding him with concern.  
  
"Nothing," he replied, feeling something of a real smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Rin shook his head, looking thoroughly unconvinced, but he let Haru lean in to kiss him again. And again. And again.  
  
\---  
  
He only did it at night, sending Life Points from himself to Rin in barely noticeable increments. He felt, for once, pleased, as he watched the numbers on his wrist fall. Hour by hour, he saved his life from rapidly dripping away into nothing by giving it to Rin instead.  
  
As time went on, the numbers began falling quicker as the virus picked up speed, draining Haru of life with a relish (or so Haru imagined). He'd taken to wearing exclusively long sleeves, no longer trusting a bracelet to hide the rapidly changing numbers from his boyfriend. He sent more and more hours to Rin more often, if only to quell the anxiety that he'd lose them all without sending Rin enough. It never felt like enough.  
  
He'd lost weight, felt himself growing slower as his life dwindled. He gave a flimsy excuse at being sick whenever Rin asked him about it, and when Rin started suggesting Haru see a doctor, he had to bite his tongue to keep from snapping that he already had.  
  
Haru's remaining hours were in the low hundreds when Rin finally caught on to him. He'd caught movement at the corner of his eyes and raised his wrist in time to see the rapidly changing numbers. He looked panicked at first, then confused as he realized they were rising, not falling. He turned to Haru, mouth half-open to remark, when he caught sight of him and his expression changed.  
  
 _He knows._  
  
Haru scrambled to begin a new transfer with shaking fingers as Rin raced to reach him. Rin caught his wrist and knocked his phone from hand just as the screen flashed "Transfer sent!" in bold print. Rin's grip tightened as he tore down his sleeve to bare the now rapidly falling numbers upon Haru's wrist. He took it all in with slowly widening eyes. Haru could feel him shaking.  _Why_ , Haru thought as tears began sliding down his cheeks,  _do I always make him cry?_  
  
Rin did nothing, said nothing, as he watched the numbers continue to fall. Only when the numbers finally settled on a solitary 7 did he meet Haru's eyes, and the look he gave him made Haru's heart break. It almost made him regret doing it. Almost.  
  
On the next breath, Rin was struggling to retrieve his phone, and Haru was fighting to stop him. As Rin held his phone, poised to return the Life Points to him, Haru clutched his arm, digging in blunt fingernails with what little strength he had, and pleaded, "Don't."  
  
"Why!?" Rin demanded, his voice breaking on the word.  
  
Haru shook his head, trying desperately not to cry. Not now. "I'm dying anyway. A virus."  
  
He held up his wrist, now displaying a 5, and Rin slumped, his phone falling from his hands with a clatter.  
  
"I didn't want my life to go to nothing," Haru said, letting his hands slide down Rin's arms to where Rin had his hands against the floor. Rin immediately laced their fingers together. "Not when it doesn't have to. Not when I can give it to you."  
  
"I don't want you to die."   
  
"You can't stop me."  
  
Rin let out a shaky breath. "Five hours...?"   
  
"Less," Haru breathed.  
  
Rin made a choked sound and pulled Haru to him, pressing him as close as possible as if he could give him life through contact alone. Haru pressed his lips to Rin's jaw, and Rin pulled back, cupped his cheek, and kissed him again and again and again.


End file.
